Thursday, January 08, 2009

Australian soprano Deborah Riedel, dead at 50.

More melancholy news. Deborah Riedel, the Australian soprano, died today of cancer at The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She was fifty.

Deborah Riedel as Tosca (Pic: Jeff Busby, click on it to enlarge)(Image courtesy of Opera Australia, used with permission.)

I first encountered Riedel in 1986, when she made her company debut with the Victoria State Opera as Enrichetta in I Puritani. (She traded as a mezzo until 1988. One of her earliest pro solo roles -- maybe even her first -- was Hansel in WA.)

She was soon a darling of the VSO and the combination of Riedel and Patrick Power was a surefire way to fill the State Theatre. She was an excellent Marguerite in Gounod's Faust and memorable as Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles. She reprised both roles with the company.

She studied music and piano at The Con in Sydney, sang in the chorus with the Australian Opera from 1983, had a few minor roles with the national company then won the 1986 Sydney Sun Aria Award.

In the next decade, she was a regular guest with the West Australian Opera (singing the roles of Meg in Falstaff, the title role in Countess Maritza and Mimi in La Bohème) as well as the State Opera of South Australia (notably the title role in Kalman's The Czardas Princess) and the Lyric Opera of Queensland as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world took note... In 1993, she made her debut with the San Diego Opera Company (Amina, the heroine in La Sonnambula). She went on to perform at The Met, in Vienna and Paris.

The last time I saw her perform was in the all-Australian production of The Ring in Adelaide in 2004, as Sieglinde. She was ravishing as ever.

Her last appearance with Opera Australia was in the title role of Turandot, in the Domain, in 2007.

It's a terribly sad and unexpected loss.

UPDATE: For information on Riedel's ambassadorship to The Cancer Council Australia, see here.

2 Comments:

AM said...

She made her US debut in 1994 as Amina (La Sonnambula) for the San Diego Opera and has since performed Donna Anna, Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Violetta, Alice Ford (Falstaff) for the company. Other US engagements include Donna Anna at the Metropolitan Opera and Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes) and Donna Anna for the San Francisco Opera.

In Europe Deborah performed Teresa (Benvenuto Cellini), Marguerite for the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Teresa for the Opéra National de Paris; Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) for Opéra de Montpellier; Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) for Opéra de Bordeaux and Aix en Provence; Leonore (Fidelio) for Opera de Tours and Opera Rheims; Teresa for Opera di Roma; Violetta for De Nederlandse Opera; Donna Anna for the Bayerische Staatsoper and Wiener Staatsoper; Mimi, Donna Elvira and Freia (Das Rheingold) for the Royal Opera Covent Garden, and Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) and Tosca for Welsh National Opera.

About Me

2011 is my 25th year as an arts writer and critic, mostly of performing arts. And it’s my first year as Melbourne theatre critic for The Australian. I’ve also had long spells with the Financial Review (including a heady few years reviewing nationally), the Herald Sun (reviewing theatre and ballet), The Big Issue (as arts and literary editor) and The Melbourne Times, where it all began. I’ve also had some shorter spells with The Age: as contemporary dance writer then as their first ‘fringe’ critic.

In another life, I lectured in information and communication technology. And English.

I'm currently a member of the Green Room Awards Association's dance panel, which I have also chaired. I'm also on the selection panel of the Australian Dance Awards 2010-2014. In 2009, I helped decide the Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year award.